Chanice Downer, Head of Operations at Highgate IT Solutions, has been named one of the Oxygen Influencers 2026, the trade title IT Channel Oxygen's annual list of 25 people driving positive change in the UK IT channel from outside the boardroom. The report, produced in association with Nebula Global Services and published on 22nd October 2026, recognises Chanice as an up-and-coming leader.
It is the third year running that a Highgate name has made the list, after Operations Director Jenny Latimer in 2024 and Head of Finance Fab Bird in 2025. For a business of our size, three Influencers in three years is not luck. It says something about how people grow here, and we are very proud of her.
IT Channel Oxygen launched Oxygen Influencers in 2024 as a deliberate counterweight to the usual industry power lists. The rule is simple: no CEOs. Editor Doug Woodburn calls it a crowdsourced (anti) power list, built on the view that real change in the channel is more often driven by the people doing the work than by the people in the boardroom. Nobody applies. Every person on it is nominated by the leaders the title speaks to, or by previous years' Influencers.
The 2026 cohort takes the community to 75 people. This year's 25 include individuals from Microsoft, Softcat, CDW, Bechtle, Computacenter and Trustmarque Ultima, alongside the founder of Microsoft's UK Social Mobility Network, a Cyber Citizen of the Year and a former Bollywood choreographer turned AI solutions lead. That is the company Chanice now keeps.
Her own account of her career will sound familiar to a lot of people in the channel. She landed in IT by chance in her early twenties, at a reseller that gave her experience across a range of operational roles. She joined Highgate more than four years ago in a supporting role and now leads our operations team. Her nomination cited the speed of that journey.
Asked what makes a good leader in the UK MSP space today, she said the basics have not changed. “You still need to be well informed and keep things running smoothly, but what’s different now is that great leaders also need to see the value in their people. In an industry that’s constantly changing, with so much pressure to keep up, having a happy team that feels valued makes all the difference.”
Her proudest achievement is not a project or a contract. It is the team. “Having progressed through operational roles myself, it’s really rewarding to now lead a team who are strong and experienced, share a great work ethic and are a real asset to the business.”
That is a fair description of how operations works at Highgate day to day. The ordering, vendor coordination and delivery behind every hardware order and every managed IT services contract run through Chanice's team. When it goes right, customers never see it. That is the point, and it is a large part of how we improve efficiency for the businesses we work with.
Awareness. “Like many people, I fell into IT without realising how broad the industry is or how many opportunities it offers,” she said. Her answer is visibility, not only in schools and universities but among people already working in other industries. Some of her own colleagues came from completely different backgrounds, and in her words their fresh perspectives “have directly contributed to some of our biggest successes”.
Her message to anyone outside the industry weighing up a move is two words long: do it. “There are so many areas in the IT channel that even if you’re not technical, there will be a role for you. If you enjoy a fast-paced environment, you won’t regret it.”
She also used her profile to point the spotlight at someone else, naming Lucy Ledward, our Head of Finance, as a colleague who deserves the same recognition for stepping up as a leader since returning to Highgate. Passing the credit on is characteristic.
Jenny Latimer, our Operations Director, started in the channel on the same day as Chanice at Total Computers, more than eleven years ago, and has worked alongside her across two companies since. Her reaction on LinkedIn: “It’s been a pleasure working with you for so many years, across two companies, and you are an incredible part of the Ops team at Highgate. Congratulations on this recognition, it is so well deserved.”
Highgate's reputation rests on how it treats people as much as on what it sells. The four-day week, the Best Workplaces for Women recognition and three Oxygen Influencers in three years all come from the same place: hire for attitude and curiosity, give people room to grow, and keep them. Chanice is what that looks like when it works.
The people customers rely on when something needs sorting are rarely the people on an awards stage. Oxygen Influencers exists to change that, and we are glad Chanice is on this year's list. Congratulations to her, and to all 25 of the 2026 cohort.
If her story sounds like the kind of place you would want to build a career, our careers page is the place to start. You can read Chanice's full profile in the Oxygen Influencers 2026 report on the IT Channel Oxygen website.
